Weaning Baby off Bottle in the early morning?

Nikki - posted on 04/11/2012

If the baby drinks all, or most of the milk, it means that he is truly hungry. Can you sleep on an empty stomach??

If the baby doesn't drink all the milk, has a little and doses off again, that means that it's habit and usually broken by offering tea or water instead of milk.



My son is 2 and rarely, but sometimes wakes up in the night and asks for milk. He drinks the whole bottle and sleeps soundly again. I have noticed that when he eats a little less during the day, those are the nights he wakes up, so I try to give him some light cereal before bedtime after his dinner and before bath time. Maybe you could add some baby cereal suitable for an 8 month old in his last milk bottle?

Good Luck!

Miranda - posted on 04/08/2012

I put a pacifier in my son's mouth and lightly tapped on it. He didn't take a pacifier at any other time except in the middle of the night. He would suck on it for a minute or two and then spit it out. This worked with both of my children and they were sleeping through the night by 3 months. Unless your child is going through a growth spurt, he is probably just using the bottle for comfort. If you get him to sleep through the night, he will probably want a bigger bottle in the morning. My kids used to drink a 10oz bottle in the morning when they woke up.

Arva - posted on 04/08/2012

Yes I agree a bottle of water rather then milk. If they are thirsty they will drink it and if not by the end of the week the novelty will wear off and no more mid night feasts :-) best of luck

Cecilia - posted on 04/07/2012

Hey,my experience has been wonderful. Like everything with children consistency works best. I have 4 girls, once they were eating 3 meals a day(about 6-8 months) if they ever woke up in the late night or early morning, I would turn that bottle into a small water bottle. Because I had already introduced water before it easier then most. But they soon realized if it was a brief drink they needed, they got it and went back down. The point was to show them milk was not available in the night anymore. Good luck. Enjoy every moment..

Pamela - posted on 04/07/2012

Why didn't you start him on a cup at 6 months of age when he is capable of holding one? When a child can sit up straight and stable by themselves, which is usually around 6 months, then is the best time to start substituting a cup for a bottle.



Start now. Give him the liquid in a cup for the all of the times during the day and leave the night bottle as the last one to replace. Be aware that you will have to monitor him with the cup until he gets the idea of holding and using it himself, which shouldn't take long.



I firmly believe that bottles are for the parent's convenience and should be looked at as such. There are plenty babies in the world that go directly from breast to cup. But then you may not have breast fed your child.



Start now to wean him. The sooner the better. Make it a pleasant experience. Encourage him by explaining that he is "outgrowing" the need for a bottle... He's becoming a big boy and big boys use cups! Use whatever words you feel comfortable with, but do start weaning before it becomes more difficult. Good luck!

Mazy - posted on 04/07/2012

It's normal for 8 month olds to not be sleeping through the night, even if they were previously. If he is teething or in a growth spurt then the discomfort is probably waking him up & the bottle is soothing. There isn't a problem in giving it to him until he's done with the phase. I have a 16 month old who has two molars coming in & even though he's been sleeping through the night for ages now, he can't sleep more than two hours without waking up a little. We just leave our door open & he comes in to snuggle, then goes right to sleep. I found that co-sleeping was really the only way for everyone to get decent rest.

Tracy - posted on 04/06/2012

Yes just try, it hard hearing them cry I know with being through it 3 times but just persevere and try not to give in, you will have a rough 2 nights be prepared for sleeplessness and please let me know how it works out.

Tara - posted on 04/06/2012

Ok thanks for the advice, I will try the water. He`s an average size, not to big not to small. I just hope I won`t give in with the formula. It's so frustrating at 3 in the morning that I do whatever to make him go back to bed but if your babies were good after 2 days then I will try it out and hope for the best! thanks again!

Tracy - posted on 04/06/2012

Is he a big baby? My first was so with his last feed before bed I would give him a a little baby rice to go with the formula so I knew he was not hungry.

Tracy - posted on 04/06/2012

Yeah they cried it is all about you being in control if you give in and give the formula then they will never sleep they will always want more, its not that their hungry its the fact they want to play not sleep, from what i read your little guy is well fed before bed so he should not need more through the night, you just have to be a little patient and let him cry, its so hard but after my first baby I learned it was the best thing, two days and then all was good.

Tara - posted on 04/06/2012

tracy, did your babies cry after giving them water? or go back to sleep? I tried water awhile back and he just cried until I gave him formula, but maybe he just was still hungry at that point.

Tracy - posted on 04/06/2012

Hi I had that problem with all 3 of my children, it is the comfort of the bottle, I gave mine water in the bottle and within 2 days they stopped waking for it because water was not was they were expecting! They all slept through the night after that.